Will IPL auction redeem Iyer and Shaw’s careers?

So many were convinced that Prithvi Shaw had the goods to come good that there was never any doubt.

- Rasesh Mandani

An instant hit on the international stage with a maiden Test hundred on debut aged 18, Shaw had chosen cricket over studies and it was paying him back. Or so it seemed.

It was a very different story for Venkatesh Iyer, four years older than Shaw. The Indore-born was grappling with a career decision, whether to take up a finance job at Deloitte or pursue a sports career. The all-rounder chose cricket and went on to make his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh in 2018, the year Shaw led the U-19 team to World Cup triumph. Cricket though would pay Iyer back much later.

Their divergent career paths and how things transpired tells us a lot about the risks involved in elite sport. Last year, Shaw didn’t find any takers in the same IPL auction in Jeddah where Iyer landed a jackpot — ₹23.75 crore — with Kolkata Knight Riders.